Monday, 21 March 2011

It was a rainy, cold and horrible day so I didn't leave the hotel till mid-day; then went with Mum to have some red velvet cake which was lovely, lovely and finally we visited 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not' which passed an hour or so before we returned to the hotel to hibernate --- snow is forecast for the end of the week - I'll be home by then though!

To be honest, most of these pics were taken during the past week - you'd be too depressed by the weather if I showed you photos of today.

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Walking home through Central Park from the Van Cleef and Arpels Show...the weather was perfect, the sky so blue, and spring just around the corner...so lovely and so peaceful (well, relatively for New York

Today I visited the Carnegie Mansion (AKA The Cooper-Hewitt Museum, part of the Smithsonian) to view the collection of historical Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery on display there - a fabulous collection of to-die-for precious and fascinating jewels including items that belonged to Greta Garbo, Princess Grace of Monaco, Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor - it was jaw-dropping, really it was - the lushness of these amazing pieces, the size and the design of them was astonishing - the Carnegie Mansion was quite interesting too and the tour guide was worth following around. I was lucky enough to arrive early, because I as I left, there was a long queue out the front with people waiting patiently to view the collection which was almost as astonishing to me as the collection, I've never seen Americans queue for anything before!

Saturday, 19 March 2011

Despite having visited New York several times before, I've resisted visiting the WTC until now - it seemed intrusive and wrong, but whilst I was in the area, I walked down there - it seemed to me that the area was so much smaller than I had imagined it was from all the coverage I have seen on the TV over the years; there is a small temporary memorial area, and the building of the first of the new structures is making progress -- not on the footprints of the old twin towers. The previews of the permanent memorials look lovely, and I hope I will be able to visit them when they are reality in the future. Its a strange place - firstly its a building site, and now that is what it is foremost, but everyone was walking round quietly, everyone looking upwards, everyone reliving what we saw in September 2001.

Terrible, really; that sense of this building site being something so awful; it was truly like visiting a graveyard, you just can't help thinking of all those poor people.
It was one of those times in our lives when we will always be able to remember where we were, what we were doing and who we were with at that moment of that day; I can never think of these events without remembering these things, how normal a day it was for us at home, watching these awful things on TV.
Strangely, it still seemed unreal, unbelievable for being in the actual place where it happened. The cruelty of the event is still unbelievably staggering, beyond comprehension.

Friday, 18 March 2011

Today I went down to the Financial District and Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is one not to miss in New York and another beautiful day to do it! The only low spot - I had the sun in my eyes so was walking with my head slightly down and then 'bong', I walked head-first into a metal box on the bridge (phone or electricity box I think) - I hit it with quite a bang and now have a huge, huge bruise on my head. Ouch.

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Wandering down in the financial centre of New York, I found this interesting museum display of artifacts dedicated to the American Indian - inside a beautiful building were more beautiful, interesting things AND a display about the American Indian Horse Nation. Well, of course I had to go in and see what was what - beautiful beadwork - including a lady beading in a corner, talking to people about her work and lots of horse related stuff - it was fascinating.

I have to tell you though, this was the scariest doll I ever saw in my life...

Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Whenever I visit New York, I HAVE to visit M and J Trimmingwhich is just about the most amazing place you could imagine for lace, ribbon, buttons, flowers, feathers, fabrics, trims, sewing stuff, iron-on transfers, you name it, you can find it in here ---- I bought some gorgeous feathers for tiaras and some silk ribbon but I tell you, I could spend a couple of weeks in this place and never cover it all....

If you're into creative stuff - sewing, knitting, stitching, jewellery making, whatever, and you are in New York, this is one place you absolutely must not miss!